An ice shanty (also called an ice shack, ice house, fishing shanty, fish house, fish coop, bobhouse, ice hut, or darkhouse) is a portable shed placed on a frozen lake to provide shelter during ice fishing. They can be as small and cheap as a plastic tarp draped over a frame of two-by-fours, or as expensive as a small cabin with heat, bunks, electricity and cooking facilities.
More durable ice houses are generally left on a lake for the duration of the ice fishing season, although this can cause problems, such as thaws and re-freezing causing houses to be immoveably frozen onto the lake. Lighter, cheaper versions can collapse into a package to be moved from lake to lake during the season.
Many northern communities have developed bodies of laws about the operation of ice shanties - frequently including dates by which they must be removed, even if the ice can still hold them.
Folklore
In northern climates, ice shanties are the center of a large, often humorous, folklore. Fishermen often decorate their ice shanties in humorous ways (toilets are a popular joke addition), while others studiously work on ways to make their ice shanties more comfortable and efficient. Much of the folklore involves the inherent danger of erecting a structure atop a frozen pond.
References
Further reading
- Stark, Larry and Magnus Berglund. Hook, Line and Shelter, Ice Fishing Tales and Photos Too (A lighthearted compedium of ice fishing stories from across North America). Cambridge MN: Adventure Publications, Inc., 1990.
External links
- 2005 newspaper article about motorized bobhouse in New Hampshire
- Ice Shanty.org
